Last night I played court two in combo doubles. My partner and I are 3.0s; we played a 3.0 and a 3.5. We lost, 6-4, 6-4.

Both sets ended with me serving at 4-5 to stay in the set and getting broken. Tell me *that's* not demoralizing.

I don't get it. I am *so* much better than I was a year ago. My partner is no slouch either. Yet we must have lost 50 points when our baseline shots strayed too close to the net person, who would volley it between us. We never got a racquet on any of these volleys. Our passing shots didn't pass, our lobs didn't lob. We had great success against the stronger server by playing two back, but we shouldn't have to resort to such defensive play to stay in the match. How come my improved play isn't translating into actual wins?

How come I feel like I'm too conservative in matches, that my inner wild beast won't come out? I mean, I played OK for what I did, but I just didn't do enough.

Today is definitely one of those "Perhaps I have selected the wrong hobby" days. :(

bluegrasser

03-01-2007, 04:05 AM

That's what keeps you coming back - as far as being too conservative...nerves lad..

goober

03-01-2007, 04:11 AM

Actually it seems like an expected outcome for a 6.5 combo team playing a 6.0 team. I think you are putting too much emphasis on outcomes rather than how you played and the whole process of getting better. You should be happy that your opponents challenged you and gave you a good match. Once you make that transition tennis will be a lot less frustrating sport.

tennis-n-sc

03-01-2007, 05:10 AM

Cindy, Goob has a good point. And you have to remember that while you have improved, so has everyone else that has continued to play. Looks like you and your partner had a great match against an equally tough team. Serving at 4-5 is a pressure point. Lots and lots of folks have trouble with that, even pros. You come across as being overly critical of yourself. Lighten up and enjoy the journey. You've already learned an important lesson, grasshopper. You can't win them all. :)

Supernatural_Serve

03-01-2007, 06:16 AM

4-6 4-6 usually means a few points go differently and you could have won the match.

I would keep that in mind, its not like you got blown out.

Mick

03-01-2007, 06:51 AM

the time to smash the racquet is after you have lost to a 3.0 and a 2.5 because you and your partner are expected to win against that team.

Raiden.Kaminari

03-01-2007, 11:21 AM

Actually it seems like an expected outcome for a 6.5 combo team playing a 6.0 team. I think you are putting too much emphasis on outcomes rather than how you played and the whole process of getting better. You should be happy that your opponents challenged you and gave you a good match. Once you make that transition tennis will be a lot less frustrating sport.

Exactly!

By the way, I never damage my own equipment (or the court, or anything). When I was a kid, my parents could not afford to buy me an expensive racquets. I had to borrow racquets from friends as a junior until I saved up enough money to buy my own racquet. Many kids used to make fun of me, but that all stopped when I kept improving, and eventually exceeded them all despite not having their superior equipment or their private lessons. The parks and recreation coach used to tell me that it takes more than equipment to win, it takes heart.

Did you know that the reason why Rafael Nadal doesn't show anger (throw racquets, etc.) during a match was because his family told him, "think of all the kids that can't afford a racquet"?

So think about that when you're out there, doing a tantrum, thinking about throwing a racquet. If there are kids around, they will mirror your actions.

That's why junior tennis players really need to get fixed (besides some of the coaches that encourage the overly competitive fits).

I wish there were more Blakes, Nadals, and Federers out there, although Federer was a terror as a junior. Thankfully he's calmed down and look what he's like now.

fuzzyvolley

03-01-2007, 11:57 AM

profanity works AND it is free........... just kidding, sort of

10sfreak

03-01-2007, 03:04 PM

Cindy, I would echo what Goober and the others have written. I think y'all had a pretty good match against a "superior" team (6.0 vs. 6.5), and with a score of 6-4, 6-4, that means basically, that your opponents broke y'all's service games ONCE in each set. Not bad at all, I think. But at the same time, I fully understand your frustration...

Swissv2

03-01-2007, 03:14 PM

Sometimes a loss forces you to look seriously at your weaknesses and be determined to find a solution. That is your challenge. The solution may not lie in "better lobs, or better passes", but maybe so.

Your ability to see your own current improvement shows that you are fully capable of finding a solution and successfully implementing it.

GL.

beernutz

03-02-2007, 01:39 PM

:.

Both sets ended with me serving at 4-5 to stay in the set and getting broken. Tell me *that's* not demoralizing.

I'm no doubles expert but I do play at least one doubles league every year and I've learned that much of the time when you don't hold serve (assuming you are hitting decent serves), the fault lies with your partner.

I don't know what happened in those games in your match but if you were at least getting your serves in and the returner wasn't pounding easy winners off of them, you can take heart that the lost games can probably be blamed on your partner. mrgreen: :mrgreen:

raiden031

03-03-2007, 04:32 AM

:

I'm no doubles expert but I do play at least one doubles league every year and I've learned that much of the time when you don't hold serve (assuming you are hitting decent serves), the fault lies with your partner.

I don't know what happened in those games in your match but if you were at least getting your serves in and the returner wasn't pounding easy winners off of them, you can take heart that the lost games can probably be blamed on your partner. mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I agree with this. I have a pretty strong serve, and I am a lowsy doubles player compared to singles, but find its easier to hold serve in doubles. As long as I'm not double faulting, it will always be game-love or game-15.

Ace

03-03-2007, 05:01 AM

Actually, racquets NEED to be trained sometimes. You HAVE to tell them what they did was wrong, or else they will keep doing it.

Topaz

03-03-2007, 06:08 AM

:

I'm no doubles expert but I do play at least one doubles league every year and I've learned that much of the time when you don't hold serve (assuming you are hitting decent serves), the fault lies with your partner.

I don't know what happened in those games in your match but if you were at least getting your serves in and the returner wasn't pounding easy winners off of them, you can take heart that the lost games can probably be blamed on your partner. mrgreen: :mrgreen:

An exception to this would be a weak server who ends up setting up their partner at the net to get slammed by a good return.

See, that's the thing about doubles...it is about working together as a team, not placing the blame or fault with one player or the other.

Sakkijarvi

03-03-2007, 09:43 AM

Look, you're not playing Chutes n' Ladders against your seven year old niece on Christmas morning. You are (hopefully) playing valid opponents that can win on any given day. So some days you lose.

I really began the process of improving when I started to let it all hang out, no nerf second serves, no wimpy *** playing defensive. I still play DEFENSE, but not tentative. I gifted myself some losses, double faults, to crank up the second serves, etc.

Watching doubles, a lot of it looks like half-swings, not the kind of strokes I make and see in singles. When I play doubles (once a week) my serve is almost never broken, yet I double fault more than any of the other guys I play with and against. But I also spin in first serves sometimes, mash in seconds, and keep the opponents off balance...enjoying myself immensely win or lose.

The only matches I find myself playing in a manner I don't prefer is the occasional 'must win' when I put pressure on myself and tighten up. That happens now I'd say one out of 7-8 matches since I moved up a league.

I coach kids in two sports and love the journey, am still on it myself. Cindy, you are on the journey and obviously enjoying it. Good for you.

Sakki

beernutz

03-04-2007, 07:42 AM

An exception to this would be a weak server who ends up setting up their partner at the net to get slammed by a good return.

See, that's the thing about doubles...it is about working together as a team, not placing the blame or fault with one player or the other.

I think I covered that exception when I originally wrote, "and the returner wasn't pounding easy winners off of them".

heycal

03-04-2007, 03:46 PM

Remember, Cindbad, regardless of how bad you may feel inside, your emotional exterior should always look like this:

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http://i16.tinypic.com/2q3q15z.jpg

Cindysphinx

03-04-2007, 06:45 PM

Heycal,

:) :)

pagepa

03-05-2007, 08:47 AM

Cindysphinx. I don't know how long you've been playing, but a 6-4, 6-4 loss to a 6.5 team is not a bad result since you were a 6.0 team. I started playing just a few years ago, and the best advice anyone ever gave me was that you should not be afraid to go for your shots in a match. That doesn't mean to hit every ball as hard as you can, but "go for" the shots that work for you in practice. Many people practice well, but get very tentative in matches and start to hit the ball very soft. The ball falls short or travels so slowly that the opponent can easily poach any ball you hit. Yes, you keep the ball in the court, but you also set your net partner up as a target and give the opponent easy put aways! So the end result is the same if you lose the point either by "poofing" the ball around, or you lose the point by going for your shot and you hit the ball out a little. Thinking that way "frees you" to go for the right shot while realizing that you're going to miss a few. Playing tentative and losing points by hitting slow, soft shots that are easy for the opponents to "put away" can become a habit if you let it. I'd rather go for the right shot and miss a few than to let my partner become a target because I'm hitting the ball so soft and tentative.

Hope that makes sense to you. I do know that we all learn a lot more from our losses than from our wins. We win a match and often don't stop to think about why we won and what we did right. But when we lose, we think about it, and often learn from the mistakes we made.

10sfreak

03-05-2007, 05:18 PM

Pagepa, I'm with you on this, but that attitude is a lot harder to implement than to conceive! One thing I've found, is that I tend to "go for my shots" more if I'm playing singles rather than doubles. Why? I think it's because if I hit it long or into the net in singles, I've only hurt myself. If I do so in doubles, then I feel like I've let my partner down. So, in trying to avoid letting my partner down, I sometimes (not nearly as often as I used to!!) wind up letting my partner down!! LOL! Arrggghh! I HATE this game! LOL!

sureshs

03-05-2007, 05:41 PM

Looks like she (Sphinx) is typing up some TW post ...

Cindysphinx

03-06-2007, 05:28 AM

Pagepa, I hear ya. I play much better when I go for my shots, and it is more fun besides.

I gotta get over this Fear Of The Unforced Error ("FOTUE"). But it is hard in doubles, because partners sometimes do tell you to ease off when you're missing and for me, easing off just makes me miss more.

jimmycoop

03-06-2007, 06:01 AM

Sakki--well said.

Cindy--I think most tennis players go through your frustration; some learn, as some of the posters have noted, to change focus and "go for your game" during a match. Easier said than done. I've been there and still often am. What helps with me is to have some serious pre- and during-match conversation with my partner (I have a regular doubles partner in most league matches); we help each other focus on hitting our shots, not beng so defensive in our play and generally just keeping each other pumped. You gotta communicate with your partner and if you can't get on the same page, get another partner. Keep slugging Cindy and remember it's a game and like all games, it's meant to be PLAYED.
__________________________________________________

Tennis--cheaper than therapy and more effective.

heycal

03-06-2007, 11:31 AM

I gotta get over this Fear Of The Unforced Error ("FOTUE"). But it is hard in doubles, because partners sometimes do tell you to ease off when you're missing and for me, easing off just makes me miss more.

You could go for winners all you wanted if you were playing mixed with me, Cinnabon, and I'd never say a critical word. I like that style of play in my partners.;)

Tennis_Beast101

03-06-2007, 11:34 AM

trust me I am a top top junior

top 180 in the nation top 25 in florida

i have many BAD days

heycal

03-06-2007, 11:39 AM

. .

zapvor

03-07-2007, 08:34 PM

i say you smash it anyways to make this a better thread ;) and post pics

mJeez4293

03-19-2007, 01:27 PM

yo tennis beast u consider urself a top top[/I] junior? but u give a ranking and its sub-par... anyways who cares if the racquet is expensive, i guess its no good to smash it, but if it really helps then y not?? i accidently broke one in my tournament this weekend during the first set, then i felt bad after and went on to win the next two sets.

Chicane

03-19-2007, 11:38 PM

I feel ya, Cindy. Try to pick up Ping Pong because the ping pong paddles are much cheaper. I always let my frustrations out by destroying ping pong paddles and poppin the ping pong balls. I played at this tournament where I destroyed 5 ping pong balls in one game (11 points), haha

raiden031

03-20-2007, 06:08 AM

What you should do is keep a walmart racquet in your bag so that if you get really frustrated, you can walk over to the bag and pull that one out and break it. It takes a tad more self-control than breaking the one you are playing with, but at least if you can last long enough to grab it you won't have to feel bad about breaking the cheapo racquet.

spiderman123

03-20-2007, 06:55 AM

What you should do is keep a walmart racquet in your bag so that if you get really frustrated, you can walk over to the bag and pull that one out and break it. It takes a tad more self-control than breaking the one you are playing with, but at least if you can last long enough to grab it you won't have to feel bad about breaking the cheapo racquet.

Or even better... at a changeover, grab the opponent's racquet and break it.

mJeez4293

03-20-2007, 08:27 AM

i have a couple jr racquets in my bag that my club gave me in case i need one. and when im at nationals and i didnt feel like packing any the proshop usually sells them cheap for around 20$

cak

03-20-2007, 09:01 AM

What you should do is keep a walmart racquet in your bag so that if you get really frustrated, you can walk over to the bag and pull that one out and break it. It takes a tad more self-control than breaking the one you are playing with, but at least if you can last long enough to grab it you won't have to feel bad about breaking the cheapo racquet.

Or, you could act like an adult that realizes in the big scheme of things you are just playing a silly game and let it go. I am always amazed at "adults" who throw racquets or smash things on court. What do they do when their job gets frustrating? Goodness knows raising children can be frustrating, what do they do then? Are these racquet smashing folks the same ones with restraining orders against them and a string of jobs they got fired from due to anger management?

Raiden.Kaminari

03-20-2007, 10:59 PM

What you should do is keep a walmart racquet in your bag so that if you get really frustrated, you can walk over to the bag and pull that one out and break it. It takes a tad more self-control than breaking the one you are playing with, but at least if you can last long enough to grab it you won't have to feel bad about breaking the cheapo racquet.

Nope can't even do that. I teach disadvantaged youths for free. I sometimes give them that Walmart racquet. What kind of message do you think is being sent when the kids see adults smashing racquets on court?

Or, you could act like an adult that realizes in the big scheme of things you are just playing a silly game and let it go. I am always amazed at "adults" who throw racquets or smash things on court. What do they do when their job gets frustrating? Goodness knows raising children can be frustrating, what do they do then? Are these racquet smashing folks the same ones with restraining orders against them and a string of jobs they got fired from due to anger management?

Exactly ... I've seen some tennis players who couldn't control themselves on the court, blow up in real life in company meetings. It's not pretty. They smashed $2K laptops.

I find some of the posts kind of ridiculous. If you don't value the small stuff, how are you going to value the bigger stuff? And if you don't value stuff, does that mean you don't value people? Are you abusive towards your spouse, or towards children, or even friends? I'm sure the folks who can't control their anger on court have road rage while driving.

Mick

03-20-2007, 11:30 PM

it's not right to take your frustration out against the racquet because the racquet doesn't play bad tennis, it's the player that plays bad tennis.

magmasilk

03-21-2007, 08:15 PM

it's not right to take your frustration out against the racquet because the racquet doesn't play bad tennis, it's the player that plays bad tennis.

whenever i miss a high volley i usually hit the crown of my head with my racquet (string bed) ... i like to think its negative reenforcement. it really hasn't helped ... yet.

HookEmJeff

03-26-2007, 09:55 PM

Cindy - Slam the balls instead when you're upset if you have to do it. They're cheaper and easier to replace. :D

Jeff

Zets147

03-26-2007, 10:05 PM

I don't know... the "What the @#%!???" has been my favorite phrase recently.. maybe it will work for you :) (it has not worked for me).